Nokia Reportedly Shipped Around 16 Million Phones in Q3 2017, Most Of Them Feature Phones

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Dec 25, 2017

Amazon, the global e-commerce giant, has acquired Blink — the maker of wireless connected home security camera and doorbell. In a post on its website, Blink has stated that nothing will change for its users and the company will continue to operate and support its products as usual.

The company has not revealed any financial information related to this transaction. The move could help Amazon compete in the fast-growing home security camera market. Currently, it competes against the likes of Nest — a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet.

The e-commerce giant recently forayed into the connected home video cameras with the launch of its Cloud Cam. This acquisition of Blink seems to be a step forward for the company to strengthen its position in the home security market.

Making the announcement on its website, Blink said:

If you own one of our systems, nothing changes for now. We’ll continue to operate under the Amazon umbrella selling and supporting the same great products you know and love. It’s Day 1 for us at Amazon, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can deliver to our customers together.

For Amazon, Blink brings the expertise in building connected, wireless home monitoring and security technology. Blink started its operations in early 2016 through a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $1 million for its totally wireless home monitoring system.

Unlike several other home security systems available in the market, which requires a wired power connection, or the battery-powered cameras which generally have relatively short battery life, Blink’s device operates on two AA batteries and should last for about two years of regular use.

The company’s offering was well-received by the users. Its crowd-funding campaign was a success, with Blink raising five times the amount it initially targeted.

Wishing All Of You A Merry Christmas!

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Dec 25, 2017

Dear Readers,

Christmas is the time of joy and love. May you get the best present of all: the company of people you love, good cheer, and smile.

Thanks for being a part of Gizmochina all these years and we look forward to your continued support for many years to come.

Merry Christmas. Stay Blessed! 🙂

Gizmochina Team.

Nokia 2 Amazingly Scales Through Scratch, Burn & Bend Durability Tests

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Jed John Ikoba

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Dec 25, 2017

HMD Global first unveiled its cheapest smartphone yet, the Nokia 2 about two months back. The phone is plainly a budget smartphone but has now been revealed to have Nokia’s trademark durable build in a Durability test carried out by Zack Jerry and uploaded to his YouTube channel JerryRigsEverything.

The test video shows the Nokia 2 being subjected to several tests and the first of them all is the scratch test where the device is scratched with a Mohs hardness pick set, keys, and a razor blade in order to measure its resistance to scratches. The YouTuber was able to detect that the Nokia 2’s display and front-facing camera are protected by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is uncommon for low-end devices. The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 features a Mohs hardness rating of six, making it resistant to scratches from coins and keys. Unfortunately, the display can be mutilated by sand since the particles are made from harder materials.

The rear camera and LED flash is also noticed to have a glass protective cover which is an improvement over the plastic-covered Nokia 3 rear camera setup. Also, the earpiece has a thin sheet of vinyl protecting it. The rest of the Nokia 2’s covering, as well as the power button and volume rockers, are all made of metal.

After the scratch test, the smartphone was also subjected to a burn test where a lighter fire was placed close to the display in order to determine the amount of time it would take before the pixels temporarily shuts down. That happened in just 5 seconds and the Nokia’s 2 IPS LCD display started changing to black. The good thing is the display recovered after a few seconds. This is amazing, considering that AMOLED displays usually don’t recover when they are subjected to same burn test. Finally, a bend test was carried out to ascertain whether the Nokia 2 can withstand extreme force from either the back or the front and the device didn’t disappoint on this one.

The Nokia 2 features a 5-inch IPS LCD display with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor having a Quad-core CPU while an Adreno 304 GPU fires up the graphics. The budget nature of Nokia 2 is well reflected in the 1GB RAM and 8GBof internal storage it packs. Thankfully, the internal storage can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. Crammed into the device is a massive 4,200mah non-removable battery. It runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat but will get upgraded to Android 8.0 Oreo in no distant time. You can take a look at the video from below.

Lenovo Mirage Solo Daydream VR Headset Seen At FCC

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Dec 25, 2017

Earlier this year, there were reports that standalone Daydream VR headsets will hit markets this year. Some of the manufacturers linked to the reports include HTC, Lenovo and Huawei. With the year almost over, there is no chance a standalone Daydream VR headset will hit the market.

HTC announced last month that it will no longer release a Daydream headset at the launch of its own standalone VR headset, the Vive Focus. However, we still have Huawei and Lenovo left.

Details of the Huawei’s Daydream VR headset surfaced about a month ago when it made an appearance at the FCC. Now it has been followed by that of Lenovo.

According to the FCC documents, the VR headset is called the Lenovo Mirage Solo and has model number Lenovo VR-1541F. Other features revealed include a 4,000mAh battery capacity and Bluetooth 5.0.

While it is not specifically mentioned, we believe the Mirage Solo is powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor.

Have been using and loving my pre-release @Lenovo standalone headset, running Daydream. More soon. Can't wait for you to try it. pic.twitter.com/lwb6PCG4tD

— Clay Bavor (@claybavor) November 14, 2017

Last month, Google’s VP of VR Clay Bavor, tweeted that he has been using a pre-release unit of Lenovo’s VR headset powered by Daydream. He added that more (details) will be revealed soon.

An image accompanying the tweet shows a line drawing of the headset with a controller identical to that of the Daydream headset for the Pixels.

With barely a week left this year, there are speculations that the Lenovo Mirage Solo will be unveiled at CES 2018 which thankfully begins in January. The price is expected to be revealed at the event in addition to other specs.

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OnePlus 5 Android 8.0 Oreo Update Rolling Out Already, Will Get Face Unlock (Later) Says Carl Pei

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Dec 24, 2017

The OnePlus 5T is not only one of the best phones in the market but it also has one of the fastest if not the fastest “Face Unlock” feature on a phone. Today, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei confirmed that the feature will make its way to the OnePlus 5.

In a tweet posted earlier today, Carl Pei announced that the feature will be available on the OnePlus 5 due to popular demand.

Due to popular demand, Face Unlock is coming for the OnePlus 5. Thanks for the feedback, and merry Christmas! 🎅🎄🎁

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) December 24, 2017

Owners of the OnePlus 5 will be glad as the arrival of Face Unlock means one less difference between it and the OnePlus 5T.

Just a few hours after the announcement and OnePlus has again surprised owners of the OnePlus 5 by rolling out the Android 8.0 Oreo/OxygenOS 5.0 update.

The update not only brings Android Oreo and all the cool features of OxygenOS 5.0 such as parallel apps, it also comes with December’s security patch.

The update will roll out gradually over the next couple of days. However, some users who have updated said using a VPN and selecting Canada will allow you receive the update immediately.

Below is the change log for the update:

Launcher
Optimizations for Shelf
Now you can upload your photo through Shot on OnePlus

Camera & Gallery
New Camera UI design
Optimizations for photo quality
Added beauty effect for Portrait Mode
Added “Places” tab for viewing photos on a map

Apps
Added history feature in Calculator
Added alarm calendar function in clock

System
Added Parallel Apps feature
New design for Quick Settings
New design for Lift up display
Added “Adaptive model” screen calibration
Updated Android security patch to December

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TomTop Discounts Zhiyun Crane V2 and FeiyuTech WG2 Gimbals

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Get $60 Off When You Buy The Zhiyun Crane V2 On TomTop

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Dec 24, 2017

Online store TomTop is offering up to $60 in discounts on the Zhiyun Crane V2 and FeiyuTech WG2 Gimbals.

The Zhiyun Crane V2 stabilizer is a 3-axis handheld gimbal that is compatible with mirrorless cameras like the Sony a7, Panasonic Lumix, Nikon J, and Canon M series.

It is actually priced at $549 but if you use the code ZHCRV2, TomTop will knock off $60 from the price bringing it down to $489.

The FeiyuTech WG2 on the other hand is for action cameras such as the Go Pro Hero5/Hero4, Xiaoyi Yi 4K and Xiaomi Mijia Mini 4K action camera.

The gimbal which is great for time-lapse videos costs $269 comes but down to $224 when you use the code FYTWG2 at checkout.

TomTop says both the Zhiyun Crane V2 and FeiyuTech WG2 gimbals will be shipped for free from their warehouse in the US. So hurry up and grab these deals if you plan to step up your photography game come 2018.

Get $45 Off When You Buy The FeiyuTech WG2 On TomTop

ZTE Blade A3 Gets Quite Blue Variant, Still Priced At ¥799

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Dec 24, 2017

The ZTE Blade A3 is a mid-range phone that was released back in October. When it was announced, it launched in Glacier Blue and Obsidian Black; today ZTE has announced a third color variant.

The new color variant called Quite Blue actually looks more like a dark shade of teal. It also has black front bezels unlike the Glacier Blue variant with white bezels.

The specs of the new color option as well as the price remains the same as the others. You get a 5.5” HD display with 2.5D glass on top. There is 3GB of RAM paired with MediatTek’s MT6737T processor and 32GB of storage.

The selling points of the Blade A3 are its dual front cameras (5MP + 2MP) with flash, its 4000mAh battery, and a dedicated MicroSD card slot. The Blade A3 uses a triple card tray which lets you insert two SIM cards and a MicroSD card slot at the same time.

The Blade A3 packs a 13MP rear camera, an earphone jack and a micro USB port. It also has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner or if you want you can decide to use the Face Unlock feature instead.

The Quite Blue Blade A3 is priced at ¥799 (~$121) and will be sold on JD.com. The store has already begun accepting pre-order registrations.

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Essential Phone Now $449 or $499 With 360° Camera

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Dec 24, 2017

We can’t help but agree that the cut in the price of the Essential Phone from $700 to $500 has made it one of the most affordable flagships. While the phone isn’t perfect – it sure has gotten a lot better since its launch.

If you are on the lookout for a new phone to begin the new year, you can purchase the Essential Phone for $449 on Amazon. Or better still, throw in an extra $50 and get the world’s smallest 360° camera too. The price cut applies to both the Black Moon and Pure White variants.

Essential has continued to push out more updates to improve the performance of the cameras which is the issue people had with it when it launched. While it is still far from the Pixel 2 or iPhone X‘ camera level, the Essential PH-1’s cameras have drastically improved. If you still are not satisfied, you can side-load modified versions of the Pixel’s camera app too.

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ZTE Axon 7 Android 8.0 Oreo Update Expected To Arrive In April 2018

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Dec 24, 2017

Earlier this week, we reported that ZTE confirmed that it will roll out the latest Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Axon 7 smartphone. However, the company refrained from providing any specific timeline for the said update at that time.

But, according to ZTE Germany, the Android Oreo update for the Axon 7 will be available from April next year. The company has also revealed that the update will have a new skin layer called “Stock + UI” which is expected to remove bloatware that was a part of the customer interface.

By the time the Android Oreo update starts hitting the Axon 7, the phone will be almost two years old, surpassing the two years time limit for rolling out major updates. The Android 8.0 Oreo comes with several new features such as Picture-in-Picture, smart text selection, notification dots, Project Treble, and more.

The ZTE Axon 7 was ranked among one of the best affordable premium smartphones last year. It comes with a 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution, 2.5D curved glass and a layer of Gorilla Glass 4 protection on top. The phone is fuelled by a 3,250mAh battery, which also supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology.

Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It comes with a 20MP f/1.8 aperture camera with OIS and EIS on the rear side, while up front, there is an 8MP f/2.2 88-degree wide angle shooter.

A couple of months ago, ZTE confirmed that it is working on a successor of the Axon 7 but apart from that confirmation, no other information is available related to the phone. We will just have to wait until more information comes up.

Huawei P11 X Concept Phone Brings Triple Cameras & iPhone Like Notch

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Dec 24, 2017

There’s still time for the launch of the Huawei P11 flagship but that doesn’t stop creators from releasing concept videos of the upcoming device. A new video from the YouTube channel concept creators recently tried to shed some light on the potential looks of the Huawei P11 flagship. The concept model, which the creator calls as the Huawei P11 X, tries to club some of the recent rumours along with some high-end features resulting into a good looking premium concept flagship smartphone.

The Huawei P11 X concept features round edges and an iPhone X like notch on top of the display. But this notch is significantly smaller than the Apple model. Apart from this notch, the phone adopts a full-screen design with little to no bezels going around the phone’s front.

From the video, the Huawei P11 X seems to be made out of metal and glass. There are four buttons on the right side of the phone: one textured power button, two volume buttons, and one dedicated camera button. These days, we don’t see a dedicated button for the camera, but it’s a good addition to the concept considering how the real Huawei P11 is expected to be a camera monster.

The back features a mirror-like finish along with three cameras on its left border arranged vertically. There’s dual LED flash and laser focus to assist the rear cameras. The front dual cameras are housed inside the small notch above the display. While a triple camera design is quite unusual in a smartphone, there’s a small possibility that the real phone packs three sensors at the back. Evan Blass had released a few advertisements for the Huawei PCE P11 series earlier in December which talked about the phone’s 40MP triple camera lens with 5X hybrid zoom. While this video is just a concept, now you know from where the triple lens design gets its inspiration.

Other features of the Huawei P11 X Concept phone are pretty standard: headphone jack, speakers at the bottom, and red and black color options.

You can check out the entire fan-made concept video down below.

Sharp FS8018 Visits TENAA After Geekbench, Bezel-less Notch Design Likely To Continue

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Dec 23, 2017

After visiting Geekbench a few days back, the Sharp FS8018 model has just surfaced on TENAA. So now we have an official look at the phone’s design, which reminds a lot of the Aquos S2 that was launched in China back in August. Like the S2, the phone has the front camera at the center and a fingerprint sensor equipped oblong home button below the display. While we can’t see the bezels around the display, it’s likely that Sharp continues the design of the recently launched Aquos family into the new model.

So, what’s the big difference between the Aquos S2 and this FS8018 model?

The Sharp FS8018 comes with a single camera at the back, instead of dual cameras. The primary camera is of 16MP while on the front, you get a 20MP selfie shooter. Inside, there’s a 2.2GHz processor, which is likely going to be the Snapdragon 630. If you remember, the Sharp Aquos S2 was the first smartphone to feature the SD630 chipset (on the cheaper variant), so it’s likely the same 2.2GHz processor is carried forward into the new model. Further, there are two RAM variants: 4GB and 6GB with 64GB and 128GB of storage options.

The screen continues the odd resolution found on the Aquos S2 — 5.5-inch 2040 x 1080p. It’s a pretty lightweight phone as well, weighing 140 grams (again same as the S2) and measuring 142.7 x 73 x 7.8mm.

Given the single camera setup on the FS8018, it’s possible that this is a cheaper model in the Aquos family. Still 6GB + 128GB and 4GB + 64GB options place it in the upper mid-range segment. The battery is kind of disappointing, measuring just 2930mAh in capacity.

TSMC To Snatch 7nm Qualcomm SD855 Orders From Samsung: Report

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Dec 23, 2017

Samsung and TSMC are two big players in the semiconductor foundry business. Both the companies play an important role in the manufacturing of the processors used inside today’s smartphones. For example, TSMC manufacturers Apple’s A11 Bionic processors, while Samsung takes care of its own Exynos chipsets as well as Qualcomm’s flagship processors like Snapdragon 835.

This year, Samsung was the sole manufacture of the flagship Snapdragon 835 processors and this gave the company’s smartphone division a solid head start in the supply of the powerful chipset. So it was no surprise that the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ were the first smartphones in the market featuring the new chipset. Even last year’s Snapdragon 820 chipsets were produced by Samsung. This shows that Qualcomm and Samsung have had a solid partnership in the past few years.

However, things are likely to change in 2018. A new report from Nikkei reveals that Qualcomm may partner with TSMC for manufacturing its 2019 Snapdragon 855 chipsets. So, after sticking with Samsung for next year’s SD845, the company would likely shift to TSMC for its successor.

Qualcomm-Snapdragon-835-Processor — Current Gen. Snapdragon 835

There’s a solid reason for this change. The Snapdragon 845, which will end up in phones next year, is still built on a 10nm processing node (used by SD835). However, its next generation version, the Snapdragon 855, which will be launched in 2019, will be manufactured using an even more advanced node — 7nm process. This is where things get interesting.

Both Samsung and TSMC have made significant investments to develop and perfect the 7nm manufacturing process. However, it looks like TSMC has got an edge as the semiconductor foundry is said to deliver 7nm chips as soon as 2018. The Snapdragon 855 production is expected to kick off by the end of 2018, so Samsung could have been a bit late to the party.

It’s also said that TSMC will manufacture a modem chip for Qualcomm as soon as H1 2018. So expect more details about the partnership in the coming months.

OPPO A85 Crops Up On TENAA, 18:9 Display With Mid-Range Specs

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Dec 23, 2017

Everyone is obsessed with 18:9 displays this year and lately, companies are releasing smartphones with this unique aspect ratio for as cheap as $150. After Xiaomi and Huawei released the Redmi 5 / Redmi 5 Plus and Huawei Enjoy 7S smartphones, it looks like OPPO is cooking something similar to these devices. A new smartphone, going by the model number OPPO A83 has just cropped up on TENAA, revealing a mid-ranger with a high screen to body ratio. However, considering OPPO’s premium pricing standard, expect it to retail above $200-$250.

The certification website reveals a 5.7-inch LCD HD+ 1440 x 720p display with an octa-core 2.5GHz processor and 4GB of RAM. There’s 32GB of ROM on board along with a MicroSD card slot which takes cards up to 256GB. As for the camera, the phone features a 13MP rear shooter and an 8MP front-facing shooter. There’s Android 7.1.1 on board with ColorOS on top. Finally, there’s an average 3090mAh battery inside.

As you can see, the specs are quite similar to the OPPO A83 which was certified earlier in December. This is just a slightly better version with 4GB of RAM on board. The processor should be Helio P23, the same one used on the OPPO A79 model that was released back in November.

Since the phone has passed through TENAA, expect a launch sometime soon.

Moto X4 Android One Edition Starts Receiving Android Oreo Update

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Dec 23, 2017

Motorola’s Moto X4 has reportedly started receiving the latest Android 8.0 Oreo over-the-air (OTA) update in the US. Earlier, the Lenovo-owned company had promised to roll out the Android Oreo for the Moto X4 Android One edition by the end of this year.

The update, which carries the build number OPW27.1, comes with some new features as well as the latest Android security patch version. If you are using Moto X4 Android One edition, you should have received a notification to download and install the update. If you haven’t received the update notification, check it manually by going to About phone and then check System updates.

To remind you of the specifications, the phone features a 5.2-inch Full HD display with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with a layer of Gorilla Glass on top for added protection. The phone is powered by a 2.2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor.

The device packs 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot which allows users to further expand the storage capacity up to 256GB. The phone comes with a dual camera setup at the back, featuring a 12-megapixel lens and an 8-megapixel lens. There is a front-facing camera of 16-megapixel with f/2.0 aperture and LED flash.

The phone comes with an IP68 certification, making it water and dust resistant. It runs Android Nougat operating system out-of-the-box and also supports Amazon’s personal assistant Alexa. The phone is fuelled by a 3,000mAh non-removable battery.

The Moto X4 Android One edition was unveiled for Google’s Project Fi in the US for a price of $399. Notably, it is the first non-Google phone to join Project-Fi network, which was previously exclusive to the Pixel and Nexus devices.

At the time of the launch, the company promised that the Moto X4 Android One edition will be “among the first to receive the Android P update.”

Gionee S10 Lite With 4GB RAM Launched In India At A Price Of Rs. 15,999

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Dec 23, 2017

Gionee has launched a new budget smartphone in the Indian market, dubbed as Gionee S10 Lite. The phone is a watered-down variant of the Gionee S10 which was launched in China earlier this year in May.

The phone is priced at Rs. 15,999 (approximately $250) and will be available for purchase from today, i.e. 23rd December, through offline stores. The phone will be available in two colour options — Gold and Black.

Along with the purchase of this device, the company is also offering two Paytm Cashback Voucher Codes worth Rs. 250 each, which are applicable for purchases worth Rs. 350 or more on Paytm Mall.

Further, the users will also receive additional 5GB free data per month for a period of 10 months from Reliance Jio. Reliance has extended this offer for new as well as existing subscribers, on recharges of Rs. 309 or above.

The Gionee S10 Lite phone features a 5.2-inch HD display with a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. Under the hood, the phone is powered by a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 427 processor, along with 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

There is a microSD card slot, which allows users to expand the storage capacity of the device to 128GB. The phone features a 13-megapixel rear camera with auto-focus, LED flash with f/2.0 aperture. The device packs a 16-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture for taking selfies even in low light conditions.

Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE capability, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS/ A-GPS, a micro USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, along with FM radio support.

The phone runs Amigo 4.0 based on Android 7.1 Nougat operating system. The Gionee S10 Lite enables WhatsApp Clone — a feature that enables 3 accounts of the instant messaging application to run simultaneously. The device is fuelled by a 3,100mAh battery, which should be enough to provide a day of usage on a single charge.

OnePlus Could Face A Potential Lawsuit Over Its Facial Recognition Tech

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Dec 23, 2017

OnePlus 5T was released just a few weeks back and it came with an amazing full screen display. But along with the screen, one of the highlights of the new device was its facial unlock feature. The company managed to add facial recognition to the new flagship without using any fancy hardware — just the regular smartphone front camera. The tech surprisingly works pretty well and while its not as accurate as other tech like that on the iPhone X, its still a great way to unlock your smartphone on a daily basis.

But it turns out, the facial recognition tech being used on the OnePlus 5T could be infringing atleast one patent from SensibleVision, a company specialising in facial recognition and biometric authentication. While talking to mysmartprice, George Brostoff, SensibleVision co-founder and CEO revealed that OnePlus could be infringing on the company’s illumination patent.

But it remains to be seen whether SensibleVision aims to take matters to court. In his conversation with mysmartprice, George revealed that the company has not licensed their patents to OnePlus. But even if the Chinese company is found to be using a similar tech as SensibleVision, it will be hard for the case to hold up considering how the phone relies on just the front camera and its display for facial unlock.

Another thing, Mysmartprice notes that taking the legal route might not be in the best interest for SensibleVision. Many of their patents are licensed in the US and even if OnePlus was found to be infringing on their patents, it would not make sense financially as the settlement payment would be quite less considering OnePlus’ limited reach in the US market.

(Source, Via )

The Recently Certified SM-G888N0 isn’t Samsung’s foldable Galaxy X smartphone

By

Michele Ingelido

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Dec 23, 2017

It has been years since rumors about a foldable phone by Samsung have surfaced online. Reports have become more concrete thanks to some reliable rumors and certifications. But it seems that several concrete things about this device are wrong. Months ago, a device dubbed SM-G888N0 appeared in the database of South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency, hinting at a possible launch of the foldable phone in South Korea.

This codename has been spotted even at the Bluetooth SIG and it was expected to receive its official certification. That is why many people thought that a foldable phone was going to be released in 2018 by Samsung under the name of Galaxy X. But now it has been revealed that SM-G888N0 is not the codename which identifies Samsung’s foldable phone. According to the colleagues from Sammobile, SM-G888N0 is just a rugged phone which has been realized by Samsung for train personnel in South Korea.

The company is given the task to create the world’s first LTE-R network for trains in South Korea, and this device is part of this project. According to previous rumors, Samsung Galaxy X will be released in 2018 and an alleged patent has already surfaced. But we are not talking about SM-G888N0, and at this point, we can say that there is no official certification that proves its existence.

Sony Xperia XZs Receives A Massive Price Cut In India, Now Available For Rs. 36,399

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